Berwyn Police Blotter
The Tragedy of Impaired Driving
A message from Chief William Kushner:
As long as I’ve been a police officer, I’ve never gotten used to the sorrow I feel when I am called to the scene of a crash where a person has died due to impaired driving. Yet this senseless loss of human life is a daily reality throughout Illinois and the nation — year after year.
Imagine the public outrage if 33 jumbo jets — each carrying about 400 people — crashed every year in America killing all on board. That tragedy is equivalent of the toll our country suffers annually due to impaired driving. Where is the indignation over this catastrophe?
The fact is that impaired driving deaths did decline dramatically during the 1980s through the early 1990s. Social activism, including the rise of organizations such as MADD, led to tighter laws that helped bring the death toll down. During that period, every state, including Illinois in 1997, made it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or above.
But within the last decade, the numbers have been essentially stagnant. In 2006 alone, the latest year for which we have data, 13,500 people died in crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider was legally drunk, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Particularly shocking is that among those dead were
306 children under age 15 — innocent crash victims easily avoidable.
In Illinois in 2006, according to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 594 people lost their lives in crashes involving drivers who had been drinking alcohol.
During the last five Labor Day holidays in Illinois, 86 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes. Statistics say 38 or 44 percent of these fatalities resulted from crashes involving drivers who had been drinking alcohol.
Because we are committed to ending this tragedy, the Berwyn Police Department will join with others throughout the Illinois and the nation during the upcoming Labor Day holiday period for an intensive crackdown on impaired driving. This nationwide enforcement campaign, bolstered by new Illinois radio and TV advertising, is focused on the worst offenders, 21- to 34-year-old males. It airs from August 18th through September 1st.
As police officers, our message during this crackdown and all year long is clear and unwavering: You Drink & Drive. You Lose. With stepped-up law enforcement throughout Illinois — including roadside safety checks and saturation patrols — if you drive impaired, you will get caught.
With summer winding down, Labor Day is an extremely popular time to gather for with friends and family in Berwyn and across Illinois. All too often, it can also be deadly due to impaired driving.
If you plan on using alcohol while celebrating Labor Day, designate a SOBER driver BEFORE the party begins. Be responsible, or risk a DUI charge.
Sincerely,
Chief William Kushner
Berwyn Police Department
The Berwyn Police Department will conduct Roadside Safety Checkpoints on the following dates at these locations –
Saturday August 23, 2008 – 11:00 pm to 3:00 am at Harlem Ave and 25th Street
Friday August 29, 2008 – 11:00 pm to 3:00 am at Ogden and East Aves.
Saturday August 30, 2008 – 11:00 pm to 3:00 am at Harlem Ave and 25th Street
Saturday September 6, 2008 - 11:00 pm to 3:00 am at Ogden and East Aves.
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